Princeton winning with DUC alumni

By Katrina Craycroft

Dallas United Crew (DUC) congratulates David Slear (Class of 2017) on being named Captain of Princeton University’s Men’s Lightweight Crew team (Princeton Lights). Slear shares the honor with Marcus Jonas of the United Kingdom. As a leader of this historic team, Slear has had a banner career. Most recently, Princeton Lights won silver in the 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship and gold at Boston’s 2019 Head of the Charles Regatta, the premier collegiate races for 2,000-meter and 5,000-meter distances, respectively.

Slear (center) winning gold at the 2019 Head of the Charles. Photo courtesy of DUC

Slear is a three-year rower in Princeton Lights’ first varsity boat, and Coach Marty Crotty gives high praise, “I can’t say enough good things about him. David is everything you want in an athlete as a coach.  In his first year, he exceeded expectations in every way. In his second year, he made small improvements while excelling in the classroom and becoming a leader on the team. In his third year, he has been completely dialed-in and smashed all previous personal bests in training and with his leadership of the team.  Despite not seeing the culmination of his improvement, this was recognized by his teammates when they appointed him captain of the team next year.”

Captain is a familiar role for Slear, who led DUC to gold in 2017’s USRowing Central Youth Championships. Slear raced in the Varsity Eight, youth rowing’s marquee event, to win by a whopping twenty-three seconds over regional rival Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas.

Dallas United Crew (DUC) rows at White Rock Lake offering boys’ and girls’ high school and middle school teams.